TO A MOSQUE? Religious Field Trips in America

Recently, I read a couple of different articles about a public school in Denver, Colorado that arranged field trips to a synagogue, Greek Orthodox Cathedral and a mosque. One was called, “U.S. Students FORCED to Wear Islamic Garb On School Outing, Parents, Irate” by Amanda Shea on January 11, 2015. The other was written by B. Christopher Agee on January 8, 2015 and was called, “Colorado School Requiring Girls to Wear Islam-Compliant Clothing During Trip to Mosque”.

I understand that the field trip would include three types of worship places and was voluntary. The articles stressed that the big concern for the parents was the head and ankle covering requirement for the females going to the mosque. I would love to see a decrease in burkas in America, but it isn’t my biggest concern. A well-informed student can put on the head covering to be respectful, while just gathering information.

One of my concerns is that I suspect most children and adults in America don’t know enough about any religion in general to be prepared for a field trip like this. I truly believe that most people can’t even explain the basics of the religion they claim to follow, let alone one they have never studied. We live in such a “feel good” society. People aren’t taught about logic or how to think critically. Many children grow into adults that haven’t been taught properly and simply don’t think things through like they should. Many of these people are now teaching our children.

I suspect these three “religions” were to be introduced and the children would be asked later how they felt about it all. Then, I suspect, they might be encouraged to follow the “religion” they felt the best about or simply found to be the most interesting or exciting. The question: “Which religion is true,” would probably never get asked. Today, things that are true to you are not necessarily true to me. This faulty “logic” is everywhere, even at pulpits.

Another concern is that I suspect, many Americans don’t even realize that we don’t want Islam accepted as a part of our culture. I agree that it needs to be taught because it is a real and present danger to society as we know it. I believe many people forgot or weren’t taught that our country was founded on Biblical principles. Do we really want to replace Biblical principles with Islamic principles? We don’t want to be living under Sharia law. In the U.S we have grown so complacent and “politically correct” that our leaders won’t even acknowledge that the most of the terrorism the world is experiencing today is Islamic terrorism. Devout Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. aren’t killing innocent lives. Devout Muslims are killing or not trying to stop the killing and recruiting like crazy!

Our founding fathers wanted what they called The Religion of America to be taught in our public schools. They knew it would be a bad idea to focus on any denomination. Benjamin Franklin wrote about the five fundamentals of “All Sound Religion” that should be taught in the public schools. This information is from a book called, The Five Thousand Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen.

Here is my creed: I believe in on God, the Creator of the universe. That he governs it by his providence. That He ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render to Him, is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion.” Benjamin Franklin’s Writings

“The five points that Franklin implied are: There exists a Creator who made all things and mankind should recognize and worship him. The Creator has revealed a moral code of behavior for happy living which distinguishes right from wrong. The Creator holds mankind responsible for the way they treat each other. All mankind live beyond this life. In the next life mankind are judged for their conduct in this one.

Cleon Skousen

Do we all know enough about these three “religions” to know that only two out of the three would legitimately qualify? All three have some of the aspects of sound religion, but one clearly falls short. All three agree that there is a Creator who made all things and mankind should worship Him. All three agree that mankind live beyond this life and in the next life mankind are judged for their conduct in this one.

Do you think that beheading someone that refuses to join your religion, crashing plans into buildings, using people, including children, to set off bombs and sacrifice their own life, endorsement of honor killings and wife beatings, etc, would be something that would have been considered to be a part of a moral code of behavior that distinguishes right from wrong? I don’t think the result of any of these crimes would be happy living. Is killing your neighbor ever good? Do all three of these agree on the same absolute code of moral behavior?

I can clearly see the tendency and excitement for some, when they hear of a field trip like this. “Great! Religion is coming back to the schools.” Our public school systems have been stripped of these religious principles a while ago. No doubt, it would be great to get back to teaching the principles of all sound religion in the public schools. Islam simply doesn’t qualify and it shouldn’t be encouraged at all. Islam is an ideology, not a religion.

I actually do teach my children about Islam and I would trust some people to teach them the truth, but most people simply don’t know. My children might actually benefit from a field trip like this. They know that Islam is the only religion that has a “doctrine of deception” called taqiyya. This doctrine gives its followers permission from their god, Allah, to lie when necessary.

I would love to go on a field trip like this and come back to the classroom and make a list of all the deceptions we saw. Take a close look at what is not happening in the peaceful Muslim world. Notice that not many Muslims are speaking up against Islamic terrorism? That can only be for one of two reasons; either they agree with what the radicals are doing, even though they wouldn’t do it themselves. Or they don’t agree and are scared to speak up with good reasons. They speak up; it costs them everything, sometimes even their lives. Did you realize that Allah and the God of the Bible are different gods? Do these children know that? Taqiyya is alive and well.

I can clearly see how this mysterious “religion” with all its requirements and deceptive beauty can make the searching, restless soul feel like they found something special. Dressing kids up in Islamic style clothing was probably fun for many of them. Bowing on the floor at specific times in a day and reciting prayers, would no doubt cater to our human nature and make us “feel good.” I doubt that beheading videos were part of the lessons learned at the mosque that day.

Our future generations are counting on us to teach them truth. Read, study, search and most importantly, pinch your neighbor and speak up.

Judy Rice is the proud mother of teenage triplets, Jillian, Spencer and Derek and wife to Gary, one of the most loving, hardworking, honorable men in the world. She is a Christian who is a huge fan of traditional marriage, freedom, and is pro- life to the core. She has a Masters in Counseling from DePaul University in Chicago and a Bachelors degree in Communications from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Before kids, she worked as a counselor, advisor and teacher at the university level. She clarified her world view in her thirties and believes her most valuable education continues to come from reading the Bible, reading in general, listening, paying attention and participating in meaningful communication wherever it occurs.

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